The fire protection engineering profession is in a strange place right now. For one thing, there's a growing global shortage of FPEs just as demand for their services is surging. Factors such as accelerating technology, global building booms, and intensifying natural disasters are making their work more challenging than ever. And on top of that, some predict that artificial intelligence will completely alter how FPEs do their jobs over the next decade.

Today on the podcast, I talk about all of this with Bill Koffel, a veteran fire protection engineer and director of the new online fire protection engineering program at the University of Maryland. We discuss Maryland's effort to expand access to FPE training, how the FPE profession is evolving, the challenges of attracting and educating the next generation, and what role AI might play in all of this for good and for bad.

LINKS: A new NFPA Journal cover story on this topic will be out soon! Look for it online and in the upcoming Winter 2025 issue.

Learn more about the University of Maryland's online degree program in fire protection engineering